There are many devices that may be employed in order to determine an actual length measurement. One such well-known device is a ruler, which is typically a solid piece of wood or plastic having indicia printed or etched thereon. The indicia usually consist of hash marks perpendicular to the edge of the ruler and positioned at a predetermined distance from a starting point of the ruler. The indicia may also consist of numerical values corresponding to the hash marks. Thus, when a user positions the ruler on an item to be measured, the user may employ the hash marks and the numerical values corresponding thereto in order to determine the actual length of the item.
Rulers are typically employed for measuring items that are relatively short in length. In order to measure longer items, folding rulers are often employed. Folding rulers have at least two sections hinged relative to each other. The sections are disposed in parallel when folded but extend so as to be disposed substantially end-to-end when unfolded. Each section is typically a solid piece of wood or plastic having indicia printed or etched thereon. When unfolded, the plurality of sections enable a user to determine the actual length of the item, even though the length of the item is greater than the length of any one section of the folding ruler. However, one disadvantage of folding rulers is that a user must manually unfold the ruler each time the user desires to measure an item, and must re-fold the ruler after the item has been measured.
To avoid the need for continually manipulating a folding ruler, a tape measure is often employed. A tape measure typically includes a thin flexible strip having indicia printed or etched thereon. The strip is typically coiled in a housing and is withdrawn from the housing in order to measure the actual length of an item. The housing may also include a locking mechanism which maintains a desired length of the strip outside of the housing while the user takes the measurement. The housing often includes a spring mechanism which retracts the strip when a user has finished taking a measurement. Because the strip is thin, a relatively long length of the strip may be disposed within a compact housing, enabling the user to determine an actual length measurement which is relatively long.
Currently, there also exist devices which have more than one scale printed or etched thereon. One such device which is employed to determine length measurements is referred to as an architect's ruler. An architect's ruler is typically about twelve inches in length and has a triangular cross-section. The triangular cross-section provides a variety of edges onto which are printed or etched various scales. However, because the architect's ruler is only twelve inches long, it can not be effectively used to measure distances that are greater than twelve inches. It also has the disadvantage that, since it has a triangular cross-section, it does not lay flat when in use, making it cumbersome to use.
Despite the variety of measuring devices that exist, these devices are confusing, ineffective and difficult to use when a user desires to determine a length measurement which is not actual.